Li Shaochun

Li Shaochun

Li Shaochun (November 4, 1919 - September 21, 1975) was born in Tianjin. His ancestral home is Bazhou, Hebei Province. He is a Peking Opera actor. He is a veteran of Gongwu, Laosheng and Wenwu.

In 1924, he entered Shanghai Qilu public school to study in primary school. In 1929, he appeared on the stage for the first time and played the role of baby born Yue Yun in the Peking Opera "mother-in-law CI Zi". In 1931, under the training of teachers Chen Xiuhua and Ding Yongli, he studied both civil and martial arts. In 1932, he began to audition several Peking Operas. In 1934, he co starred with Mei Lanfang in Beijing Opera Si Lang Tan mu. In 1938, it made its debut in Beijing. In 1940, he cooperated with Hou Yulan in Peking Opera "Si Lang Tan Mu" and so on. In 1945, he created the play Wen Tianxiang. In 1946, he played the role of triangle in Beijing Opera "hundred battles prosper the middle Tang Dynasty". In 1948, he created the Peking Opera wild boar forest. In 1950, the new China Experimental Peking Opera Troupe was established. In 1952, he won the actor performance award of the first national opera performance Conference for his Peking Opera song Jingshi. In 1953, he went to Romania to attend the fourth World Youth Festival. In 1954, he visited India and Myanmar with a Chinese cultural delegation. In 1955, he served as the head of the third troupe of Beijing Opera Theater. In 1956, he performed in Japan, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. In 1958, he joined the Communist Party of China. In 1960, he visited Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and Canada. In 1961, Chuang Pai's play Manjianghong was staged. In 1962, he starred in the drama wild boar forest. In 1966, when the "Cultural Revolution" began, he was criticized. In 1970, he was declared "liberated". In 1973, he was assigned to teach drama in the Opera School of the central May 7th University of Arts. In 1974, he suffered from cerebral thrombosis due to an accidental fall.

On September 21, 1975, Li Shaochun died of heart disease and cerebral thrombosis in Beijing at the age of 56.

Although Li Shaochun's literature is Yu Shuyan and his martial arts is Yang Xiaolou, he has integrated and developed into his own system, forming a unique school characterized by all-round ability in literature and martial arts, which is known as "Li school" in the world.

Character experience

Li Shaochun was born in Tianjin on November 4, 1919. After the Spring Festival in 1920, Li Guichun and his family moved from Tianjin to Shanghai. In 1924, Li Shaochun entered Shanghai Qilu public school (Shandong guild hall) to study in primary school. In 1926, due to his weak body, his father hired a martial arts teacher, Shen Yanchen, to practice martial arts.

In 1929, he appeared on the stage for the first time and played the role of baby born Yue Yun in the Peking Opera "mother-in-law CI Zi" starring his father. In 1931, when his family moved to Tianjin, his father hired Chen Xiuhua, a teacher of Yu school, and Ding Yongli, a teacher of Yang school, to train Li Shaochun to study both civil and martial arts. In 1932, he performed Beijing Opera "An Tian Hui", "eight hammers", "beating drums to scold Cao" and "killing fishermen" in Tianjin Beiyang theater and Chunhe theater.

In 1933, Chen Xiuhua and Shen Yanchen left Tianjin to perform in Jinan, Qingdao, Hankou, Jiangxi, Nanjing, Wuxi, Shanghai and other places. Along the way, they performed as well as learned, and performed both civil and martial arts dramas. In 1934, he performed a small martial arts drama for Mei Lanfang at the golden theater in Shanghai, and was promoted by Mei Lanfang to perform the Peking Opera "Si Lang Tan Mu" with him. In 1935, he left Shanghai with his father for a public tour.

In January 1936, he performed with his father Li Guichun in Tianjin, where he co performed the Beijing Opera "storm Pavilion"; in October, he went south again at the invitation of Shanghai Tianchan stage, where he first performed on the same stage in Wuxi, and then went to Shanghai. In 1937, with the outbreak of the Anti Japanese War, Li Shaochun continued to perform in Shanghai with his father. He fell on the stage and suffered a slight concussion due to overwork in playing the Peking Opera "beating the BRICs", so he decided to leave the stage.

At the beginning of 1938, Li Shaochun left Shanghai with his family and returned to Tianjin to settle down. From June 25, Li Shaochun staged "five performances in four days" at the China Grand Theater in Tianjin, with the repertoire of "two generals", "beating drums and scolding Cao", "Shuiliandong", "naodifu", "beating fishermen and murderers", "evil tiger village", "eight hammers" and "beating BRICs". On September 26, Li Shaochun, led by his father, went from Tianjin to Beijing to "catch up with the exam" and was well received Shang Xiaoyun, President of the National Opera branch, received the reception. On October 7, he performed the first artillery play in Beijing Xinxin Grand Theater, with martial arts first and literary second, including the repertoire "two generals" and "beating drums and scolding Cao", which received a lot of attention. Then, he held the ceremony of "worshiping Ding Yongli as a teacher" in Beijing xilaishun restaurant. On October 19, Li Yuxiang introduced the ceremony of worshiping Yu Shuyan as a teacher in Beijing. On December 3, he held the ceremony of worshiping Yu Shuyan as a teacher in Xinxin Grand Theater Yu Shuyan personally performed the Peking Opera "Zhan Taiping" which was personally taught by Yu Shuyan.

In 1939, he went to Harbin to perform, and met his brother-in-law Li Wanchun, who also performed in Harbin, forming uncle Lang's "challenge" trend. In August 1940, he cooperated with Hou Yulan for the first time in Peking Opera "Si Lang Tan Mu" and other children's plays. In November 1941, he was invited by Shanghai Tianchan stage and returned home in fine clothes. In the winter of the same year, he and Bai Yuwei were invited by Shanghai Tianchan stage and performed in Shanghai for nearly half a year.

In 1943, he continued to perform in Shanghai. On May 19, Yu Shuyan, a professional teacher, died of illness in Beijing. Li Shaochun stopped his performance and went to Beijing to mourn. Half a month later, he returned to Shanghai to continue his performance. On May 12, 1944, he and Yan Huizhu performed the Peking Opera "Wusong"; on May 14, the Peking Opera "Wen Tianxiang" (the first version) adapted by Li Shaochun premiered on the Tianchan stage in Shanghai, but it was not long before it was banned. In 1945, Li Shaochun recreated the Peking Opera Wen Tianxiang, which was adapted from the film.

In June 1946, at the invitation of Wu xingcai of Shanghai Dalai company, he performed on Tianchan stage with Li Shifang, ye Shenglan, ye Shengzhang, Yuan Shihai, Zhang Yunxi, Zhang Chunhua and Chen Yongling, known as the "top ten"; in August, he performed Beijing Opera "Baizhan Xingzhong Tang" in Shanghai, with Lei Haiqing in the front, Nan Jiyun in the middle and Guo Ziyi in the back, playing a comprehensive skill of singing, doing, wrestling and playing for five consecutive days .

In January 1947, she played with Cheng Yanqiu on Tianchan stage in Shanghai, while Mei Lanfang played in China's Grand Theater, forming a situation of master apprentice confrontation. During the Spring Festival, the Peking Opera "Baizhan xingzhongtang" starred in the show lasted for six consecutive days. In early September, she participated in the "flood relief Pingju benefit performance" (actually Du Yuesheng's 60th birthday) in China's Grand Theater in Shanghai. From September 19, she led the show with Yu Lianquan In December, he went to Taiwan with film actor Li Lihua to learn about the performance market of Beijing opera.

At the beginning of 1948, he returned from Taipei to Shanghai for a banquet with Weng. He asked Weng for help in adapting the Peking Opera wild boar forest. Weng encouraged him to write his own script. Before the Spring Festival, Li Shaochun returned to his home in Beijing and began to prepare the script of Beijing Opera "wild boar forest"; in May, the first draft of the script of Beijing Opera "wild boar forest" was written and widely solicited opinions; in September, Beijing Opera "wild boar forest" premiered in Chang'an Grand Theater in Peking.

On July 2, 1949, he attended the National Congress of Chinese literary and artistic workers as a representative of the Peking Opera circle; on July 3, he led the Qishe troupe to perform the Peking Opera "wild boar forest"; on July 24, he was elected a member of the National Committee of the all China Federation of dramatic workers; on September 17, the Qishe troupe went to Zhongnanhai to perform the Peking Opera "wild boar forest", attended by Mao Zedong and other leaders; in October, he was elected a member of the National Committee of the all China Association of dramatic workers In celebration of the liberation of Shanghai, Qishe troupe was invited to perform on Tianchan stage in Shanghai on the 27th. The Peking Opera "wild boar forest" has been watched by many audiences for 66 consecutive performances.

In January 1950, there was a "general" disharmony within the company, and Li Shaochun and Yuan Shihai stopped performing for more than two months because of a conflict over economic dividends. Later, Tian Han, director of the drama improvement bureau of the Ministry of culture, and Ma Yanxiang, deputy director of the drama improvement bureau of the Ministry of culture, came forward to mediate and promote the "prime minister" and "prime minister"; in May, Qishe troupe went to Tianjin to perform, and Beijing opera "boar forest" was watched by many audiences; in June, Qishe troupe merged with Jinpeng troupe led by Ye Shengzhang to establish new China Experimental Peking Opera Troupe, with Li Shaochun as its head; in July, new China Experimental Peking Opera Troupe cooperated with the "land reform" ”Beijing Opera "Yunluo mountain" was staged in Beijing.

In 1951, Li Shaochun's Peking Opera "wild boar forest" was edited by Ma Yanxiang and officially published in Shanghai. In November, he led all members of the new China Experimental Peking Opera Troupe to participate in the experimental working group of the Chinese Academy of traditional opera. In October 1952, the first national opera performance conference was held in Beijing. Li Shaochun won the actor Performance Award for his newly edited Peking Opera song Jingshi.

In March 1953, the experimental troupe of the Chinese Academy of opera was changed to the Chinese Peking Opera Troupe, with Li Shaochun as the deputy head. In July, he went abroad for the first time to Romania to participate in the fourth World Youth Festival, and won the first prize for collective performance with his Peking Opera "naotiangong" and "Yandangshan". In November 1954, he visited India and Myanmar with a Chinese cultural delegation. He was hailed as the "Monkey King of China" by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and was awarded a gold medal by Burmese Prime Minister wunu.

On January 10, 1955, China's Peking Opera Theater was established, with Li Shaochun as the head of the third troupe. In April, Zhou Enlai convened Li Shaochun and others in Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai to instruct the expansion of Beijing Opera "naotiangong" into Beijing Opera "naotiangong". In May, he participated in the national conference of advanced cultural workers and served as the director of the Chinese Dramatists Association.

On March 2, 1956, the Chinese Academy of opera held a forum to discuss the standardization of Chinese language and the development of opera language. In May, the academy published two articles, Peking Opera and Jingyin, which are "Peking Opera circles should support the standardization of Chinese language with practical actions". On May 16, the Academy took part in a performance in Japan by a Chinese delegation visiting Japan

Chinese PinYin : Li Shao Chun